Multiple violations at the coroner’s office will cost Madison County $22,500

Madison County, Indiana – A $22,500 punishment has been levied against Madison County as a result of many health and safety violations at the county coroner’s office.

State records reveal that between August 2022 and April of this year, Indiana OSHA performed a number of inspections at the Madison County Coroner’s Office.

Since a few years ago, the Madison County Coroner’s Office has voiced concerns regarding proper space, working conditions, and resources. The county coroner declared that he concurs with these conclusions. Six different infractions, all of which are regarded as significant, are currently being dealt with by the county.

“I agree with the OSHA inspector who came out,” Madison County Coroner Dr. Troy Abbott. “There are not clean working conditions, there’s no place to wash your hands, no drains, the smell in the dispatch center at times can be deplorable.”

According to OSHA documents, the six violations include:

• No adequate handwashing station for employees exposed to blood, body fluids, and corpses in various states of decomposition
• Employees observed not using personal protective equipment such as gowns and gloves, which led to possible exposure to biological substances
• Not supplying adequate face and eye protection not provided for employees exposed to blood while cleaning blood and handling bodies with various stages of decomposition
• Employees exposed to potential biological substances on contaminated working surfaces (tables, waste receptacles, doors, electronics)
• Needles and syringes were not adequately contained, which led to possible exposure of biological/bodily fluids
• Exposure to contaminated sheets, blankets, pillow cases, and other unknown textiles that were not bagged in special containers

Dr. Abbott shares the worries regarding contamination and exposure to human fluids.

“There’s always a chance for spillage, splatter and that could get in someone’s eyes or on someone’s clothing,” he described. “And we have to be able to wash those areas and we don’t have those facilities.”

According to Abbott, the request for a morgue is where it all began. Instead, he said that the county had forced his office to make do with a walk-in chiller a la restaurant.